Mali confronts Zara following Rose’s ultimatum. He questions what Zara said to Rose that caused so much upset. Zara is indignant, but Mali delivers a harsh message to Zara to stay away from Rose. Xander tries to mediate between the warring parties by pointing out that Zara just seems lonely, but Rose is immovable. It’s up to Mali now to make a choice.
Mali approaches Zara to share his truth – he chooses Rose. This compels Zara to be honest with him about how she hated studying law. She thought it was her dream, but the reality didn’t measure up. She had to find a way to justify abandoning this dream to her family. If it turned out to be because of true love, they might be okay with it.
With a new understanding of her motivations, Mali is kind to his ex – promising that she can stay as long as she needs. He explains his decision to an anxious Rose and tries to sweeten the deal – if Zara stays at his place, he could move into Rose’s for the time being.
Meanwhile, Marilyn finds the courage to stand up to Roo and the demand that Marilyn is forced to continue lying to Alf about the state of their friendship.
Marilyn is supportive to Irene about the gossip following her recent arrest, and Irene decides to return the favour. Irene marches into Roo’s to give her a piece of her mind – she can’t believe that Justin and Leah almost died and Roo’s focus is still on lying to her dad to mask her cruelty to Marilyn.
Miraculously, Irene’s words cut through Roo’s icy exterior. Roo admits that she needed someone to be angry with after her injury, and Marilyn was the obvious choice considering she showed no interest in visiting Roo whilst in hospital.
Marilyn apologises too – she felt so guilty after the explosion, she couldn’t look Roo in the eye. Finally, the two friends are back on the same page, and Roo even invites Marilyn to move back in.
